This Vegan Shiitake Mushroom Jerky recipe is an addictive salty and savory plant based snack made in the oven. No dehydrator required!
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I love jerky just about as much as Sasquatch. You know the commercials! But since I've been eating more plant based foods, I wanted to find an alternative to beef jerky. I've had mushroom jerky before and it wasn't too bad! The only thing is - just like a bag of beef or turkey jerky - mushroom jerky isn't cheap! So I decided to make my own!
I placed a Nuts.com order about a month ago and got a container of dried shiitake mushrooms. I didn't realize at the time that the container would be a decent size! The funny thing is, I thought it was going to last us a while. But we ended up using the mushrooms pretty fast! We added them to breakfast scrambles and have basically had mushrooms on our pizza every Friday since the container arrived.
I had just enough mushrooms left in the container to make my own jerky. A lot of mushroom jerky recipes I've seen start with fresh mushrooms. But since all it takes is some water to reconstitute the dried mushrooms, I thought that marinating the dried mushrooms would work just as well!
As the mushrooms sit overnight, they soak up every last bit of that marinade, absorbing all of that fantastic flavor! The next day, they cook at a low temperature for about two hours total. There's no weird texture issue using dried mushrooms.
Vegan Shiitake Mushroom Jerky
So the first thing you need to do is whip up the marinade. I used a combination of coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, a tiny splash of sesame oil (it's pretty potent so you don't want to use too much), paprika, garlic, nutritional yeast, and black pepper.
Add the mushrooms to a 9 x 13 glass dish. Make sure they're spread out evenly. Then, pour in the marinade and mix up the mushrooms making sure they're coated evenly. You could even massage the marinade in to make sure it's really absorbed by the mushrooms. Then, cover the dish and let it sit for at least 8 hours. Overnight is better.
When you're ready to make your jerky, line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper. Shake off any excess marinade from the shrooms and add them to the baking sheets. Make sure they're spread out evenly and not overlapping. Cook them for about an hour. Then, give them a flip and cook for another hour or until they've achieved a jerky like texture.
Let the jerky cool completely. Then, get to snacking or store them for later in an airtight container!
Vegan Shiitake Mushroom Jerky
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos or liquid aminos
- 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- Splash of sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
Instructions
- Add the shiitake mushrooms to a larger freezer bag or 9 x 13 baking dish.
- In a small bowl, add coconut aminos, vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, paprika, garlic, nutritional yeast, and pepper. Pour over mushrooms.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours for overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the mushrooms from the bag or dish, shaking off the excess marinade, and place onto baking sheets. Make sure to spread the mushrooms out evenly.
- Bake for one hour. Then, flip the mushrooms and cook for another 50-60 minutes.
- Allow the mushrooms to cool completely. Then, store in an airtight container.
This jerky has a good umami flavor. But if you want to add a bit more saltiness to it, you can use liquid aminos in place of the coconut aminos. I would honestly use a little less though since it contains more sodium than coconut aminos.
If you like a chewier jerky, you might want to cook the mushrooms for less time checking on the texture. I liked that this jerky had a crispier texture. It's kind of like eating super crispy bacon and I'd be so bold to say it would make a good bacon alternative!
The night I started my jerky (and used up our container of mushrooms), I hopped on Nuts.com and ordered another container of dried shiitake mushrooms. They've become a major staple in our house! And knowing how easy (and delicious) it is to make my own jerky now, I'm going to need mushrooms on hand all the time!
Did you make this Vegan Shiitake Mushroom Jerky recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #holokahome. Don’t forget to tag me @holokahome!
